2017 Winners & Shortlists

'BOSE BETWEEN THE EARS'

Bronze

Case Film

Presentation Image

BrandBOSE
Product/ServiceBOSE QC35
EntrantMEDIACOM MENA Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
CategoryDurable Consumer Goods, including Cars
Idea Creation MEDIACOM MENA Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Media Placement MEDIACOM MENA Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

The Campaign

Our QC35 audience were a group fanatical about music with a keen interest in Technology and digital media. Although a sizeable portion of this audience in the UAE were already wearing BOSE, there were still a large number of music lovers who were missing out. We therefore made those who DO NOT currently wear BOSE headphones our focus. Like Bose owners, they still appreciate quality and look for the best sound but currently opt for brands delivering below-average performance! Research told us that they treated headphones as way than just a device. Headphones were an integral part of converting their most important moments into musical memories. It meant we needed to use actual headphones to demonstrate that only BOSE brings you the best wireless experience. Therefore, our idea was to connect music lovers with BOSE in the place that mattered to them the most - right between their ears!

Creative Execution

Our execution involved literally hijacking the competitions hardware by serving in-ear advertising straight into the headphones of our prospect at the right place and at the right time. That’s because we used proximity-driven audience technology to deliver the QC35 creative in real-time. Whether it was Beats, Sennheiser or Sony, we planned our media around the user’s headphones! When someone listening to an app came within 10m of a BOSE store, it triggered a QC35 audio ad. Not only were we able to share the QC35’s superior benefits to someone wearing inferior headphones but we delivered it right in front of BOSE’s six stores. A genuine media first. In addition, we synced the headphone audio with their smartphone serving an interstitial on screen ensuring the message didn’t go unnoticed. Finally, when users arrived home we served further comms across devices connected within the same household to drive home the message!

Our media first strategy took BOSE and the new QC35 direct to the ears of our target audience: • Delivering a click-through rate 14 times greater than previous BOSE activity across mobile devices (4.7% vs 0.2%). • A 240% rise in foot traffic to the BOSE stores amongst those who heard the audio ad. • Brand affinity rose by 18%, whilst the number of people talking about the brand positively across Facebook grew by 57%. • Finally, and more importantly, sales of BOSE wireless headphones increased by 60% during the campaign period. A truly unique and creative way of connecting the fans of our biggest competitors with BOSE!

Although a sizeable portion of our tech-savvy audience were already wearing BOSE, there were still a large number missing out. We needed to tell non-BOSE wearers all about the new QC35 wireless headphones. We leveraged the potent tech of streaming music and smartphones to create a world first right ear, right location advertising campaign. When the target came within 10m of a BOSE store, we interrupted their current listening with a QC35 audio ad. Our media first strategy took BOSE directly to the ears of our audience. Delivering a 240% rise in footfall and 60% sales increase in wireless headphones.

Insights, Strategy and the Idea

To get the QC35’s ‘no wires, no compromise’ message across, we set out to surprise our audience whilst they were shaping their own musical moments. The challenge then was finding ways to place BOSE in the headphones of our biggest rivals – those not currently wearing BOSE. Smartphones and streaming services have dramatically changed the relationships we have with music. Anyone with a phone and a signal has a music library of unlimited content that he/she can access anywhere, at anytime. In the UAE music streaming subscriptions have increased 150% in the last 12 months alone. Therefore, we created a powerful mobile partnership with the UAE’s most popular streaming service, allowing us to laser target nearly 500,000 potential switchers at scale. But it doesn’t end there.

Credits

Name Company Role
Nick Tapley MediaCom MENA Director
Nick Tapley MediaCom MENA Director
Burt Reynolds MediaCom MENA Business Director
Rahul Upadhay MediaCom MENA Media Manager
Akshay Kulkarni MediaCom MENA Media Manager